Bengaluru : Revenue Minister Mr R Ashoka took lead in mass immersion of unclaimed ashes at Belakawadi in Malavalli taluk of Mandya district on Wednesday.

Speaking to the media, Mr Ashoka said, “Today, we are immersing the ashes of 560 Covid bodies which were not claimed. This programme was taken up as we believe in giving a respectable farewell to all those who have lost their lives to Covid. This is considered a holy programme and hence we duly followed the religious rituals. It feels sad that the families could not collect the ashes due to various reasons. The state Government is sharing the pain of those who lost their family members. In fact, it is an emotional issue as all of us share brotherhood in Karnataka.

As a Revenue Minister, it is my duty to organize this programme. I also want to share that it was really a sad incident to see that the bodies of Covid patients were thrown in the river Ganga and birds were preying on it. Hence, we decided to provide a respectable farewell by immersing the ashes as per religious rituals.”